Tunisian Journal of Plant Protection (Mar 2018)
Impact of Captopril on Ephestia kuehniella: Ovarian Nucleic Acid Amounts and Protein Analysis
Abstract
Ephestia kuehniella is a serious stored product pest, especially in whole and milled grains. Knowing the mechanisms that control the reproduction and development of these pests is therefore of fundamental and economic interest. Captopril, an inhibitor of angiotensin converting enzyme, was tested in vivo by topical application on reproduction of E. kuehniella. The drug was dissolved in acetone and topically applied (10 µg/pupa) on newly molted pupae. In follow-up experiment, the adults that survived from treated pupae were investigated for different reproductive event parameters. Captopril significantly reduced the ovarian contents of proteins and nucleic acids. The electrophoretic separation of proteins on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide slab gels showed differences in the number of protein fractions between control and treated series. We noted the absence of three protein fractions in treated series.